My first manifestation

Some people when they think of France, think of protests or strikes...with good reason. They happen a lot, it's a normal part of life here, I don't know how effective they actually are, but it's what the French do.

Tomorrow I will attend my first ever Manifestation. A protest, a rally, a demonstration against something.

Let me give you some background, and I'm going to try and keep this as simple as I can, because there is a long and complicated story behind this protest.

 

Breton
Skol Diwan, this is the school my children attend, our local school, and the school I teach in. It is a primary school, a bi-lingual school Breton/French, which is part of a network of schools created in Brittany 30+ years ago. They teach the Breton language by immersion, everything is taught in Breton, except for French and English of course! The belief behind Diwan, is that to truly learn a language, to become a true speaker of a language, the best method is by immersion. Other than being taught in Breton, the children are not taught anything different to the children in the French speaking primary school down the road. They follow the national curriculum, but it has been proven that they do come out with better results at the Baccalaureat. Learning 2 or 3 languages at an early age gives a child the ability to learn more languages later in their schooling or lifetime. Our personal experience has shown this to be true.

Many schools in Brittany teach Breton, many state schools claim to be "bi-lingual", and they do teach in Breton, but only some of the time, it is not immersion. France has allowed Breton to be taught, it makes provisions for regional languages and it allows Diwan schools to exist.

Parents
The parents are heavily involved in the day to day school life, which makes it a nice place to be, it gives the school a family, community feel and everyone is valued.

Each family chooses Diwan for their own different and personal reasons, 80% of the parents are non-breton speakers. Some choose for the Breton, pure and simple, some choose for the multi-lingual advantage, some choose for it's family-feel and community feel, and some choose for it's locality. It is our local school, we can walk there from our house.

Diwan schools are not state schools, they receive very little help from the government, but they are not private schools either. The parents do not pay for the childs education. Diwan schools are free, non-denominational and open to all, the same as French state schools (known as public schools in France).
Private schools in France tend to be Catholic, as all state schools must be non-denominational.

So how does Diwan fund itself if there is no help from the government? 
Fundraising and donations. 
A Diwan school is run by it's own parents association (AEP), and the money is raised by the funding committee (Kuzul), also a group of parents.
The teachers are paid by the National Education board, but the non-teaching staff (such as teaching assistants, cleaning staff, canteen servers) are paid by the association. All the children's outings and sports, as well as classroom equipment is also paid for by the association. Each Diwan school must also give money back to the Diwan network. Each school must also find a way to rent or purchase it's own buildings. The local council cannot fund a Diwan school or let is use a municipal building for free.


So why the rally?
The nearest neighbouring Diwan school to ours is in Louannec, about 15km from Lannion. It is a much smaller and newer school than ours, founded 6 years ago, they have 27 children. Our school in Lannion was founded 25 years ago and has 107 children.

Diwan Louannec and it's 27 children have nowhere to go. For the last year they have been renting part of the old school buildings from the council, they were otherwise unused by the community and this arrangement was fine for everyone. The building is right next to the current state primary school in Louannec. Two primary schools, co-habiting side by side, different teaching methods, but harmonious living. The lease was for 1 year. During this year Diwan Louannec have been trying to find a more permanent solution for their school, the council has proposed other buildings, but at a much higher rent than the Diwan association could possibly afford. They have also offered Diwan a building to buy, but again it's unaffordable. What Diwan Louannec really wanted was to stay where they are. The council however wanted the rooms for other public associations, such as the out of school clubs, the toy library and other public services.
Diwan Louannec suggested they share the facilities with these other services and associations, as they would only be needed for a few hours a week and it would always be out of school hours. The council did not like this suggestion.


The lease ran out on 10th September 2012, Diwan Louannec has nowhere else to go, they don't want to put 27 children out on the street. The council has refused all negotiations, there was an emergency meeting with higher powers in Lannion. These powers suggested that Diwan Louannec move in with Diwan Lannion until another solution is found. This is not possible, Diwan Lannion doesn't have the space to house the children, and what would happen to the teachers positions?
In the meantime, the French Education Inspector allocated a new teaching position to the state primary school in Louannec, due to the increased number of children this year, meaning they needed a new classroom. Now the council states they need the rooms Diwan is occupying for their new class. The council gave Diwan 2 extra days to vacate the premises.
As of Tuesday night, Diwan Louannec have been staging a "sit-in", they believe they have no other choice.
They have called for help, from the Diwan network, from all supporters of the Breton Language, and from all local representatives and politicians, including Francois Hollande, who did reply with his support.
Tomorrow is the rally, the protest. People are attending to show support for the Breton language, for the children, for the right to learn by the Diwan method of immersion. Whatever happens here will have an effect on the whole Diwan network, it might set a precedent. People are watching, people are talking, people are getting involved.

I am going, our school has asked all parents to help. I believe in the choice to school our children by the method we choose. If they close Diwan in Louannec, this community is left with no choice of how to school their children. They will not be allowed to let them learn Breton at school.
I am not taking my children to the rally, I am a little worried in the strong reactions I have seen to all the press online. Opposants believe Diwan is a private school and has no right to use public buildings. They believe Diwan is a sect. They do not understand Diwan. They believe that parents of Diwan, think their school is better than a state school.

It's a different method of teaching that's all. 

As Diwan Louannec protest: "There is room for everyone in Louannec, let us exist alongside as we have peacefully for the last 6 years."

If you would like to support the cause and sign the petition, please click here